“Pallana”

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Originally uploaded by danleone.

My son had a homework assignment where he had to interview one of his grandparents. The point of the assignment is to ask questions and then follow-up questions. My mom is from Uruguay South America and she comes from a very impoverished neighborhood on the outskirts of Montevideo.

One of the questions he asked was “What did you do for fun when you were growing up?” I assume deep down he thought she played some primitive electronic game, like Pong. She told him that they really did not have any money, but she remembers playing a game called Pallana (in my mom’s dialect, this sounds like “puh-SHA-na”). She tried to describe it but really could not get the point across that it only involved five rocks.

So, we went outside so she could show him how they played. I was just impressed that she remembered since it must have been 50 years since she even thought about this game.

The game is very much like “modern day” jacks, but instead of picking up jacks, you create a little bridge with your hands and scoop the rocks, each time increasing by one, and try to toss them under the bridge.

I can’t say that my son was overly fascinated by the game but I bet he can appreciate the simple times that this game was created.

I remember playing a game that is not as dangerous as it sounds, but it involved flinging pen knives off of different parts of your body and trying to get it stuck into the dirt. I don’t know what it was called or if anyone ever impaled themselves (I mean, someone’s toes MUST have been staked at some point!).

As I am remembering old games, I am now thinking about a game that my dad used to play with his friends (he is from Italy) that involved standing around in a circle and throwing down fingers and counting them and somehow keeping tabs on something. I don’t really remember, but I will ask him and you should be prepared to see a picture of that soon!

What games do you remember when you were growing up…in more simpler times?